Adjustable church pew



Feb. 10, 1953 J. w. SUTHERLAND ADJUSTABLE CHURCH FEW 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Oct. 4, 1948 John W. Shiner/and Feb. 10, 1953 J. w. SUTHERLAND, 2,627,900

ADJUSTABLE CHURCH PEW Filed Oct. 4, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Inventor 8 %Z 1 John W. Sutherland \l 5 By @zwafi Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE CHURCH PEW John W. Sutherland, Knoxville, Tenn. Application October 4, 1948, Serial No. 52,668

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in church pews, benches, and similar seat structures and more particularly to an adjustable cushion support to position the cushion at a desired angle in accordance with the inclination or slope of the floor to which the pew or bench is secured.

An important object of the invention is to provide a cushion support which is fixed to the floor as well as to the ends of the pew and to which a cushion frame is adjustably secured for forward and rearward tilting adjustment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cushion support which rigidly connects the ends of the pew to each other and to hold the ends of the pew in a rigid position for supporting the back thereon.

A still further object is to provide a church pew or bench of simple an practical construction, which is strong and durable, easy to assemble, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on a line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on the lines 33 and 4-4 of Figure 2 with the spring cushion added;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the head rest at the upper edge of the back; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectiona1 view of the cushion frame taken on a line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates the ends of a church pew or bench which are preferably constructed of wood and with the inner or opposed surfaces of the ends formed with vertically inclined grooves 6 at the rear portion thereof to receive the ends of a rigid back I. The upper edge of the back I is provided with a padded head rest 8 which covers the upper edge of the back and extends throughout the length thereof.

A U-shaped seat support 9 is preferably constructed of angle iron and is secured at its central portion to a floor II) by screws or the like I I and secured at its upstanding end portions to the ends 5 of the bench by screws or the like I2. The support 9 provides a rigid connection for the ends 5 of the bench. A cushion frame I3 constructed of angle iron longitudinal frame members I4 and end frame members I5, and also provided with slats I6 suitably secured thereto, is pivoted at its ends to the upper ends of the support 9 by pins or the like I! for forward and rearward tilting movement of the frame I3. The frame I3 is secured in its tiltably adjusted positions between the ends 5 of the bench and in front of the back 1 thereof by screws I8 securing the rear longitudinal frame member I4 to the lower portion of the back I.

The central portion of the frame I3 is supported by riveting an angle iron cross member I9 to the under side of the frame I3 to provide a downwardly extending flange 20 and to which the upper end of an angle iron vertical brace 2| is riveted and with the lower end of the brace riveted to the lower portion of support 9.

A spring cushion 22 is supported in the cushion frame l3.

In erecting or assembling the pew or bench, the lower edges of ends 5 are cut at an angle corresponding to the slope of floor I0 and the U- shaped support 9 secured to the floor and to the inner surfaces of the ends 5 of the bench. The back 'I is secured in the vertical grooves 6 in the ends 5 to thus hold the back in position.

The cushion frame I3 is tiltably supported at the ends of support 9 by the pins I1 and after the frame has been adjusted to its desired angle in accordance with the slope of the floor or according to the elevation of a platform or pulpit which the bench faces, the frame I3 is secured in a fixed position by the screws I8 connecting the rear edge of the frame to the back I and riveting or otherwise securing the vertical braces 2| to the under side of frame I3 and to the bottom of support 9.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A bench comprising end members, a U-shaped support between said members having upstanding ends secured to said members, a seat frame between the upstanding ends of said support and pivoted on said ends for tilting adjustment about a horizontal axis into a selected tilted position, an angle cross member secured to the underside of said frame and including a depending flange, and an upstanding brace on said support having one end fixed to the support and means on its other end attachable to said flange to secure said frame in the selected tilted position.

JOHN W. SUTHERLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

